I Can't Live Without You
by Michelle285
Summary: Just something that popped into my head. First (and probably only) fic like this. Post ep for Guess Who's Going to be a Bride Part II. Could Tony really live without Jeannie? R&R Please and Thanks!


_Disclaimer: I don't own anything._

 _A/N: I'm not really sure what I'm doing or why I'm doing it. I've had_ I Dream of Jeannie _for a long time on DVD but I never really thought I'd write a fic for it. Really I should've known. So…here goes. I hope its okay. It's kind of a post-ep to_ Guess Who's Going to be a Bride Part II. _Also, I know this isn't the way it happened in the show (personally, I think Jeannie accepted his explanation_ way _too fast), but I was inspired by a line in the show. We can call it creative license. Could Tony really_ live _without Jeannie? Enjoy!_

"We do not have to get married, Master," Jeannie said quietly.

Tony stopped on his trek to the couch (Jeannie had blinked them home after General Schaeffer had told them to take the afternoon off) and turned around to look at her. "Jeannie, you know I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."

Jeannie only shook her head. She wanted to give him an out. Even though she wanted to marry him more than she ever wanted anything before, she knew he didn't really want to marry her. She had been thrilled at NASA, but now reality had set in. "You would not marry me if I was the last genie on Earth."

A knife stabbed through Tony's heart. It was not only hearing her throw his own words back at him, but also the dejected tone she used when she said them. "Jeannie…I didn't mean that."

Seeing that his words had no effect on Jeannie, he walked over to her. She was looking at the floor and he used his pointer finger to lift her face up to his. The knife in his heart went deeper when he saw tears in her eyes. Jeannie was always so happy and cheerful; things that made her cry just should not exist. Tony did the only thing that felt natural to him. He pressed his lips gently to hers.

Jeannie didn't want to respond to the kiss, but she couldn't help herself. Still though, she knew she shouldn't be doing this. She pulled back. "Master…"

Right now, Tony was not in the mood to talk. He had been without her for too long—he was quickly realizing most of the time he spent with her had been wasted, had she always been able to kiss like this?—and he was not going to waste another minute! He took her hands in his and pulled them to rest around his neck. After he was sure her hands were firmly around his neck, he placed his hands on her upper arms and pressed his lips to hers again. This kiss was vastly different from the first, much more passion was infused into this one.

Jeannie didn't understand what was going on, surely he couldn't have meant what he said to Dr. Bellows and General Schaeffer. Could he? She supposed there couldn't be much harm in engaging in one kiss. After all, she had kissed him many times over the past four years.

 _You never kissed him like this, Jeannie_ , a voice whispered in her head. She firmly told it to shut up and decided to enjoy the kiss. She could figure out what it all meant later.

Pulling back after a few minutes, hours, days (Tony had lost all track of time and he didn't even care), Tony rested his forehead against hers. He whispered, "I love you."

Jeannie managed to keep her mouth from dropping open in shock, but she couldn't stop the widening of her eyes. Still slightly dazed from the kiss she breathed out, "Oh, Master."

Tony wrapped his arms around her back and was getting ready to tug her in for another kiss when Jeannie came to her senses. She tried to pull away and when he was having none of it, she blinked and materialized on the couch. Sitting up on her knees, she squinted her eyes and stared at him.

Huffing, Tony met her stare. He supposed he _did_ owe her some answers. After all, he had spent the last four years rebuffing all her attempts at anything that might have hinted toward the romantic. She must be confused.

"Did they push you down too forcefully on the rock?" Jeannie asked. Maybe he hit his head and that's why he was acting like this.

Tony took a step toward her. "No. Well, they were a little rough, but I'm fine."

"Why did you tell Dr. Bellows and General Schaeffer I was your fiancé?" Jeannie asked. That was one question she did want an answer to. When she did as he asked and blinked him back to NASA, she had meant to blink them into his office. Being as excited as she was though to finally have her master back, she didn't get the destination quite right (she was actually amazed she had managed to get them into NASA at all). "I did not notice they were there until it was too late. I could not blink out then. You needed a story for them."

Tony chuckled, taking another step closer to her. "You just answered your own question. It was the wrong answer though."

"What?" Jeannie asked.

Knowing she was not asking for a repetition but a clarification, Tony was getting ready to explain when he was struck by another thought. "What does your hair look like down?"

Jeannie tilted her head to the side. She was thoroughly confused by this seeming non-sequitur. "What?"

"Your hair," Tony repeated. "What does it look like when it is not in the ponytail?"

Not understanding, but willing to do anything he asked—just as she always had—she blinked her eyes.

Her hair could look any way she wanted it to at any time. All Jeannie really had to do was blink. She could put it in a short bob, she could make it brush her shoulders with the ends curled out or under, she could let it lay against her back straight, and she could put it in a pixie cut. She did none of that though. She let it fall natural. Which, for her, was to the middle of her back, with wavy curls cascading through the blonde locks.

"Beautiful," Tony breathed. "You are so beautiful."

Taking a breath to control her racing heart, Jeannie repeated her earlier question. She needed to know his answer, if hers was the wrong one. "Master! Why did you tell Dr. Bellows and General Schaeffer I was your fiancé?"

"Call me Tony," Tony requested of her, sitting down beside her on the couch.

Jeannie gasped. She sat crisscross facing him. "A genie does _not_ call her master by his name!"

"Maybe not," Tony agreed. A smile graced his face at her indignation from his request. "But a wife does."

Jeannie couldn't help it, she fell back on the couch with a groan. He was beginning to frustrate her. His avoidance of this question was not encouraging. "If you do not tell my _why_ you told Dr. Bellows and General Schaeffer I was your fiancé I am going to…blink myself into my bottle and not come out!" She finished the end of her sentence in a mutter.

Chuckling, Tony took her hands and pulled her up so he could look into her blue eyes. He quickly sobered. "Jeannie, I love you. I want to marry you. I've never wanted anything so much in my life. I want this more than I ever wanted to be an astronaut. Don't you want to marry me?"

This time the breath Jeannie took did nothing for her heart. She was sure it was about to fly right out of her chest with the rhythm it picked up hearing him say that. He wanted to marry her more than he wanted to be an astronaut? "Master…Anthony…you did not want that before."

Cupping her cheeks, he gently stroked his thumbs over her cheekbones. "These past few weeks without you…they were the worst weeks of my life. When I came home that first day and found you gone, Roger and I searched the house and after he left I kept searching. I didn't sleep at all those first few days. Every night I did manage to sleep, I dreamt of you. Dr. Bellows sent Roger and me to the Arctic and all I could think about was you. You weren't around and I felt like I was suffocating knowing that when I got home you still wouldn't be here. You are such a part of me, Jeannie. I just didn't realize it until you were gone."

Jeannie looked into his eyes and the only thing she saw in them was love. Now she knew he was serious. He wanted to marry her! However, there was one more problem that he hadn't thought of. She hoped he didn't care, because—all of a sudden—she couldn't imagine not being Mrs. Anthony Nelson. Still though, she wouldn't be a good genie if she didn't point it out. She whispered, "I cause you a lot of trouble. All those stories you and Major Healy make up for Dr. Bellows. Would you not rather live without me?"

"Rog pointed that out," Tony admitted. Even though he had acted excited when Roger said that, it was only a front. "I don't care. Jeannie, I don't live without you. I exist. Over the past few days I've realized I don't like merely existing without you. I like living with you."

Jeannie's heart had calmed down over the past few seconds, but it picked up again after those words. He could be so sweet when he wanted to be. "Oh, Master…"

Tony smiled. "Tony," he reminded her. Even as he was saying it, he wondered if she would ever call him that. There was a lot Jeannie didn't do. He had noticed she never used contractions and she didn't seem to use first names for anyone. Were nicknames another one of those things she wouldn't do?

Wrinkling her nose, Jeannie slightly shook her head. "Anthony."

"Whatever," Tony agreed. "As long as you don't call me master anymore. Hopefully soon, I won't be your master and you won't be my genie. We will be husband and wife?" He phrased the last part as a question because she had never really affirmed the fact that she would marry him. He knew (hoped) she would but he still needed to make sure.

"Oh, yes!" Jeannie said with a huge smile. She threw her arms around him and began kissing him all over his face, just as she had done when she blinked them away from Bahsenji.

Laughing, Tony wrapped his arms around her and deftly guided her lips to meet his rather than another random part of his face. This time, neither one of them found a reason to break the kiss.

 _Corny? Maybe. I rather like it though. After all, this was my first_ I Dream of Jeannie _fic, and I'm not sure I'll write another one. Also, I don't think we really know what Jeannie's hair looks like because she could style it any way she wants with one blink (so jealous!). So I decided to make it wavy and longish. More of that handy creative license. Anyway, I hope you liked it and I hope you'll review!_


End file.
